Archive for Jun 2004 – Sep 2007 of bits and pieces of daily living on island by a foreigner married to an Okinawan for 40 years.

Well it looks like we are actually going to luck out with Longwang. It has changed directions in the past day towards Taiwan. Because of the monster storm I finally gained some experience with several applications. The first being Google Earth and the current hurricane overlay. On the other side of things, I became interested in what was available to the novice as far as star gazing. I was able to locate two very interesting applications. One is a space similation named Celestia. This is sort of like viewing the universe in your own space craft for newbies. The other program is SkyChartIII. Although this is not a new program, it is a great way for newbies to experience the constellations as viewed from Earth . (The same company also offers an application for more advanced astronomers.)

Even in this world of more and more complex high tech gadgets, basics are needed. I didn’t even know that there was an international organization dedicated to the very serious business of what to do with our daily necessities.

Even in Japan we are limited by the redtape. This new electric socket broadband would be great for those of us who live here. But as with many things in Japan, the controls are so strict that it may end up being just another export.

I was looking at some of the various news stories; such as the self-building robots (which to me is a darn scary thought), hurricane zapping, and Google and Nasa joining forces (better maps on the way, maybe even Google Galaxy!!!); and I began to feel like my head was starting to spin from the speed of all the new technology. But then I saw this story on a technologically challenged mouse. And that’s when I realized that the world as we know it hasn’t disappeared yet, but it is under a massive transformation.

For those of you who thought you might miss the solar eclipse coming on Monday the 3rd of October, there will be a live webcast thanks to the courtesy and generosity of the city of Madrid. The time listed on the announcement is set at UTC (Greenwich Meantime). If you live in Japan, add 9 hours to the UTC for the correct time to view the various stages of the eclipse. The duration of the total eclipse will be under 5 minutes.

If you were planning on updating your mobile phone you may want to hold off just a little while longer. It looks like the next “new technology” for music lovers is on the way. So you may want to start making room in your collection not only for feeling groovy but for hearing gruvi.